To think two fruit snacks a day will rot primary school teeth

[fruitbat2021]

Infant school insisting that children have 2 fruit snacks a day and it must be fruit. Can also be raw veg but unfortunately my children don't like raw veg without a dip. I might send it in with a dip.

You can send them RAISINS but not a piece of cheese. How can this be healthy for their teeth? Every time I tell my dentist he visibly shudders.

Do other primaries allow non fruit snacks?

It’s absolutely fine and you are being mad. My near 2 year old usually has a pear and banana or satsuma every day- vital vitamins and fibre. Provided they clean their teeth twice a day it’s fine.

The problem sugars are in fruit juices and fizzy drinks and sweets.

The school have obviously considered this and think on balance it’s better for children to have fruit and get the vitamins- for many children if the school didn’t insist on it they’d get no fresh fruit at all. That’s far worse for them in the long run.

YABVU.

Your dentist comments on your eating habits? Yeah that's nice of him... I'd be very offended by this. He doesn't know my lifestyle or dietary needs.

🤣 2 fruit snacks at school a day is far better than how my 7 year old has been eating in lockdown. Good job she's gone back to school really!

@BrownEyedGirl80 similar here. Jam sandwiches, chocolate brioche, sugary yogurts and nothing of any nutritional value at all in many of the children I teach lunch boxes. I'd be thrilled if they ate 2 bits of fruit a day! I really worry about their long term health 🤷🏼‍♀️

Fruit is very healthy. It's definitely not bad for children to eat 2 pieces of fruit in a day... it's a good thing!

If a teacher is yelling at parents about this, it's something that should be brought to the head's or even governors' attention as that isn't appropriate. The snack rules are a bit strict, but I wouldn't push on that unless they wouldn't give consideration to a child who medically needed something else (my DD2 had appetite issues at Reception age so needed calorie dense options) - I'd use it as a chance to try out different produce.

Like most people, if a primary age child has damaged teeth, there is going to be a lot more involved than having fruit twice a day as a snack, so yes, it's unreasonable to think that alone would rot teeth.

And your dentist is unreasonable to say "adults don't need to snack". Many adults don't, but - again - dental health is a lot more complicated than just how often someone puts food in their mouth. I hope he wouldn't scold a patient who has low appetite or has medication that needs to be taken with food more frequently or at a different time than they have meals.

I'm glad my dentist is a lot more relaxed, nothing fazes him, not even my jaw dislocating during a procedure - he just asks if I'm okay and we work around whatever is going on with me no matter what weird complication my mouth throws at him. His attitude has really helped me feeling better about myself and that my mouth can get better if never ideal - as someone who has lost fillings while flossing and has broken a tooth eating roast chicken, scolding dentists just leave me feeling like what's the point.

Is this the same at all schools?

No, this varies a lot.

I totally get where you’re coming from OP but the solution lies in getting your kids to eat raw veg sticks, not asking for the rules to be changed.

My DGD has enamel hypoplasia on a couple of back teeth (congenital) so she is allowed to take a small quantity of cheese as her snack. I agree with you about not snacking on fruit too often. Perhaps contact your parent governor and put a case forward with evidence?

In Australia, children are advised to eat 2 fruits and 5 vegetables a day for their health! Just ask your children to drink some water after their fruit snacks to rinse their mouths.

Your child’s teeth and body will fare better eating an apple vs eating just about anything else, especially something processed like crackers.

I’ve got nothing against crackers. Love them too much in fact. Wish I had a better relationship with healthier foods.

It’s like bizarro world these days. Are people seriously restricting access to raw fruit? I don’t mean juice or the stuff cut up and stored in sugar water, I mean real fruit with all that wonderful fiber.

I thought surely that would be better than other snacks? Worried I'm eating too much fruit now!

Chickpeas are a legume, not a vegetable.
Just saying.

@oblahdeeoblahdoe
Contact the governors by all means, but please don't contact just the parent governor, that's not what they are there for

My kids eat a ton of fruit and their teeth are fine. I think in the grand scheme of things this is a fairly minor issue.

I’d be complaining if I saw a teacher shouting at a parent about fruit!

2 bits of fruit a day is totally fine, you could research lower sugar fruit if it bothers you.
I don't know why your school won't allow cheese though that's ridiculous.

I suspect the rule is more to prevent parents sending in crisps etc rather than those who would send in a rice cake or cheese

“Can also be raw veg but unfortunately my children don't like raw veg” that’s not really the school’s issue, is it? You don’t HAVE to give them fruit.

Er no I don't think so

How an apple and banana or satsuma

That's not going to rot teeth surely

So your dentist tells you off and the teachers at your kids school shout at parents. I can organise an assertiveness seminar for the parents in your town should you want one.

Send them in with a toffee apple and chocolate coated raisins

A Bounty Bar is technically fruit too.

The guidance is to eat AT LEAST 5 portions of fruit and veg per day. The more the better. Yes, vegetables are better for teeth but in a world of processed food it is much better to give children a taste for something healthy.

So the username is ‘fruitbait’
Your going to wrap cheese string around fruit and and you have a lovely dentist who your going to send into the school to talk about healthy teeth

This is a joke thread!

Christ OP!

Bored much 😂

#FRUITBAT

What?

Two pieces of fruit aren’t going to rot children’s teeth🤣 you and your dentist need to get a grip on reality maybe🤣